The Sex On Beach Book Club (26 page)

She opened her mouth.

He cut her off. “I mean it, Holly. I want to know exactly where you are, and if I think you're in danger, all bets are off. I'm coming after you.”

“Damn it, Brockman, I keep telling you that you're paying me to handle the danger.” He made her feel protected. Safe. And it was pissing her off. She took care of herself.

“And I keep telling you that I love you. If I think you need me, I'll find a way to get to you.” He let her go and said, “George, Michelle, let's go before she finds her gun and shoots me.”

H
olly walked into Maggie's office to find her consulting with a young couple at a table piled with photo albums. Maggie looked up, her brown gaze narrowed, and she said to the couple, “Excuse me.” She wore slim, charcoal gray tailored pants, a pearl-colored top, and a furious expression framed by her perfectly cut black hair as she stalked over to Holly. “What are you doing here? I'm going to call my lawyer—”

“Cut the shit, Maggie. Brad never filed the lawsuit. There is no lawsuit. You've been played.”

Maggie's fury melted into confusion.

Holly was pretty sure that was a rare look for Maggie, aka Wonder Woman.

Recovering, she glanced back to see the couple engrossed in the photo albums, then returned her glare to Holly and said, “You're lying to save yourself. Get out.”

Holly took a shot. “I'm not lying and I'll prove it. There's a book on Cullen's computer. Give me his computer and I'll show you.”

Maggie touched one of the cell phones clipped to her waist. “Book? I don't know what you are talking about.”

“I'm sure you don't.” Holly noticed she didn't say anything about Cullen's computer. If Helene murdered Cullen, and Nora stayed at her house to provide the alibi—although she thought the alibi was to cover the theft of the computer, not murder—then Maggie must be the one who went to Cullen's boat to steal the computer. “Helene wrote a book about Wes, well, about Nick Mandeville.” She wanted to see what Maggie knew about that. Of course, it had been a couple of hours since the scene this morning, so word had to be out.

“I heard about Wes being that sports agent, but that doesn't have anything to do with us or our lawsuit.” She pulled a cell phone off her belt. “If you don't leave, I'm calling the police.”

Holly folded her arms. “Good. Do it. I have my associate calling the police, too, specifically Detective Rodgers. She's going to be very interested in hearing how you and Nora helped Helene murder Cullen.”

Maggie stared at her.

Holly inclined her head toward the phone. “Go ahead, call. I'll wait.” She was done playing.

Maggie dropped the hand holding her phone. “You're not bluffing, are you?”

“No. Brad thinks he's going to help broker a book deal for Helene. He doesn't give a rat's ass about a lawsuit when he can represent Helene in a huge book deal.” Was the book on Cullen's computer? Holly thought it probably was. “What did you do with Cullen's computer after you stole it from his boat the night Cullen was killed?”

Maggie whipped her head back to look at her clients. They were engaged in a whispered argument. She walked over to them and said, “I'll be right back.” Then she gestured to Holly and went into her office.

Holly followed. Maggie's office was as tailored as the woman herself. A sleek desk with a sleek computer monitor. Tasteful filing cabinet. Lots of custom-framed pictures of big parties and receptions that Maggie had planned. Holly took it all in automatically—her real attention was focused on Maggie, who sat in the chair behind her desk, where she felt in control.

She looked up at Holly. “I am not going to admit to a crime, Holly. So what are you here for?”

To save Wes and his sister. “Okay, here it is. I think you and Nora wanted your names off Cullen's computer so no one could ever link you to the things he wrote about you in the O'Man blog and the podcast recordings. You are Wonder Woman, and Nora is the Invisible Woman. But I don't think you knew Helene was going to murder Cullen.”

Maggie didn't move. “Hypothetical. What's your point?”

The woman had ice in her veins. “I need to find the computer.”

Maggie leaned back in her chair. “If I were going to steal a computer like you say, to get rid of evidence, I would get rid of it. I wouldn't keep it around.”

Holly felt like a door had been slammed in her face. “Permanently?” She was sure the computer would tell her what Helene was up to.

Maggie fingered the arm of the executive chair. “A boat has a lot of water around it.”

Shit
. What now? What next? So Maggie had gone to Cullen's boat that night, found the computer, and dropped it in the ocean. A team of divers might be able to find it, but it would take too long and there was no guarantee they could get the information off the computer after it had been submerged in salt water. Holly looked around Maggie's office again, noting the way everything was placed with precision. Maggie was efficient and organized…An idea hit Holly. “Backup?” That's what Holly would have done. She'd have taken a copy of the computer hard drive for herself in case she ever needed it.

Maggie's brown eyes widened slightly. “I am not going to incriminate myself.”

The gloves were coming off. Holly sat forward. “Helene Essex is not who you think she is. Her real name is Ashley Gaines. Her husband went to prison for doping baseball players. A player died from the steroids. Guess who was that player's agent?”

Maggie's gaze sharpened. “Wes. Who is really Nick Mandeville.”

Holly nodded. “Wes blew the whistle and testified against Ashley's husband. At first I thought all this was revenge. But Ashley didn't attain a new identity and go through all this just for revenge. She's doing it to get famous in her own right. She's tired of being the ‘woman behind the powerful man.'”

It was as if a string yanked Maggie straight up from her leaning back position. “That's exactly the way Helene talks about men. But I thought she was just angry because she'd hit the glass ceiling in her job in human resources.”

“She was never in human resources. That's the real Helene, who Ashley traded identities with. Wes's sister identified Helene's picture as the real Ashley Gaines.”

Maggie took it all in, keeping her body still, but it was obvious that her mind was working. “So what does Helene want? What does the book have to do with it? And Brad?”

“Brad's an idiot.” Holly shoved that down. It didn't help. “I think Helene maneuvered things as dramatically as possible. She set up Cullen's murder in Wes's bookstore, and made it look like a mob hit. Drama for the book. Then she arranged to have Wes's sister show up in his bookstore with an e-mail from me. Wes gets angry and fires me in front of Brad and cameras. More drama.”

“He fired you?”

Holly ignored that. “A book that's going to make Helene/ Ashley famous has to have a big dramatic finish. So what's the real reason she has Wes and his sister in one place?”

“To murder them.”

Chills ran down her back and arms. “I have to see the book. Brad said it's finished. I think she's already written the ending. Now she just has to make it happen.” Holly was convinced that Maggie had backed up the computer's hard drive before throwing it in the ocean, as a sort of insurance.

Maggie studied Holly. “How do I know you aren't setting me up?”

Damn it. Holly didn't have time for this shit. She didn't care about Maggie's worries of prosecution. She had to keep Wes and Michelle alive. If Michelle was hurt or killed it would destroy Wes.

If Wes was hurt or killed, it would destroy Holly.

She leaned her hands on Maggie's desk and looked her in the eye. “If Wes is murdered because of you, I will personally make sure you go down for it. I will do whatever it takes to secure you a place in prison for the rest of your days.”

Maggie believed her and said, “Flash drive. My lawyer, Bradley Knoll, has it.”

 

Wes's cell phone rang while he sat around Holly's condo and tried to control his impatience. He yanked it out and looked at the name on the screen. He looked across the living room to George. “I don't recognize it.”

Seth stood behind the couch and said, “Answer it.”

Wes put the phone to his ear. “Hello.”

“Brockman, it's Brad Knoll.”

Wes mouthed, “Brad Knoll,” to Seth and George. He saw Seth's face tighten with anger, but the man got it under control. Wes leaned back, falling easily into the role he'd played for so many years: ruthless negotiator. “Knoll, what do you want?”

“I have a deal for you.”

“Not interested in any deals with you.” Wes hung up.

“What the hell did you do that for?” Seth asked, keeping his voice low.

Wes glanced at the doorway to the kitchen. Michelle was in there entertaining Jodi and Kelly with her adventures in surfing while Kelly cooked to soothe her nerves. They heard bursts of laughter every few minutes. The sound of Michelle's easy laugh tugged hard at his gut. He turned his gaze back to Seth. “I know what I'm doing. Brad is the puppet, and probably not smart enough to realize I wouldn't walk on the same side of the street as him. But Helene, aka Ashley, is. If she's there…”

“She'd expect you to be uncooperative,” Seth finished. “I'm not so sure, but we'll see how it plays.”

His cell rang again. Wes lifted it off his thigh and looked at the display screen. Same number. He answered, “Knoll, do I have to get my lawyers on you?”

“Brockman, you'd be wise to listen to me. I am going to make you rich.”

Look at that, three years out of the game and the lines were still the same. Bored, he said, “I'm not having money problems.”

“Do you want Holly to get rich off of you?”

Well now, the boy had some balls after all. He felt George and Seth's stares on him, and caught sight of Michelle walking out from the kitchen. To Brad, he said, “How would Holly get rich off me?”

“She used you. You know it. She exposed you to build her PI agency, and now she's going to use that to get on TV, book deals, anything she can milk it for.”

Wes had to admit, if he had been dumb enough to believe Holly would betray him, Brad would have his attention. “I have lawyers who will—”

Brad cut him off. “Beat her at her own game, Brockman. I have a client who has a book about you ready to go. And she's willing to cut you and your sister in on the deal.”

Wes said, “What kind of book?”

“A biography. She wants to meet with you tonight in my office. Say five-thirty. She'll have a copy of the book for you to review and we'll discuss terms. We'll get this book out before Holly can do anything. She'll be left in the dust.”

Wes stayed quiet. Thinking, and letting Brad stew. Holly had been right, there was a book. But Wes didn't believe for a second Helene was going to share profits. He was pretty sure there would be a nasty surprise waiting at the office when they got there. It was a setup, and the beauty of it was that if Wes had believed Holly had betrayed him, he might have been pissed off enough to fall into their trap.

Brad said, “Brockman, at least come and listen. What will it hurt? Both you and your sister. She's part of the deal.”

“We'll be there.” He started to hang up.

“One more thing,” Brad said.

“Which is?”

“We want to keep this quiet. We don't want Holly or anyone finding out and getting the jump on us. Just you and your sister.”

“I'm not signing anything until my lawyers look at it.” Not even Brad could be that much of a moron. He was a lawyer.

“Of course. You can take a copy of our offer to your lawyers first thing tomorrow.”

Might be hard to do, Wes thought, if he was dead. “Five-thirty,” he said, and hung up. Quickly, he filled in Michelle, George, and Seth on the parts that they missed.

“What now?” Michelle asked.

Wes went to her and put his arm around her shoulders. But before he could reassure her, the front door opened. Holly came in, followed by her dad. She said, “We both got here at the same time. Do I smell cookies?”

Before Wes could respond, Jodi and Kelly walked out from the kitchen carrying a plate of sandwiches, chips, paper plates, and another plate filled with cookies. They set it all down on Holly's coffee table.

Kelly pushed her hair back and blushed at everyone watching her. “In case anyone's hungry. I also found slice-and-bake cookies, so I, uh, made them.” She hurried back into the kitchen.

Jodi looked at Wes. “She cooks when she's nervous.”

“Nervous or scared?” Holly walked over and helped herself to a sandwich.

“Both,” Jodi said.

Holly nodded and touched Jodi's arm. “Nothing wrong with that.” Then she turned to George. “Do you want a sandwich?”

“And cookies.”

Jodi laughed. “I'll get them and something for you to drink.”

Five minutes later, everyone had food and was crowded into the living room. Wes told Holly about Brad's call, and they all agreed that it looked like Helene/Ashley was using Brad to lure Wes and Michelle into one place, probably to kill them. Then he listened as she filled them in about Maggie making a copy of Cullen's hard drive before dumping the computer in the ocean.